A small band of volunteers draped tarps over the chain link fence on August 16, that debuts Lee Street Garden in Pelham Bay, in anticipation of their prepping of six “ghost” bikes to memorialize fellow cyclists who have tragically died in riding accidents.
Kevin Daloia, an avid cyclist, led the dozen or so volunteers that came together from across NYC. By 10 a.m. the donated relics were stripped down and transformed into street memorials.
With bolt cutters and socket wrenches in hand, the volunteers meticulously removed most of the parts from the bike frame.
“We render the bikes unusable by removing all the salvageable parts that could tempt someone to tamper with the memorial,” Daloia said, adding, however, that even their best efforts can sometimes be thwarted. “One time someone removed the handlebar from a memorial,” he said.
The bike chains, fenders, saddle racks, pedals, gear selectors and brake cables are removed and the seat, while left on the bike, is damaged beyond repair. A coat of white spray paint is then applied, to give the bike an eerie feeling. This was all accomplished before the group broke for lunch.
Afterwards, the bikes were sent to their final destinations: four were affixed to sites in Manhattan, while the remaining two headed to Queens.
Every year in May the annual Ride of Silence is conducted to dedicate the recently installed ghost bikes. Each somber memorial is chained to a street sign.
A unique plaque is created to identify each victim; however, Daloia adds additional information about the circumstances surrounding the incident. He etches the person’s age and the date of the tragedy as well. He also adds a contact phone number to be notified if the memorial is damaged, so it can be respectively maintained.
“NYC DOT respects our placements, as long as we don’t block roadway visibility or a crosswalk, ” Daloia said.
The last Bronx ghost bike installation in the Bronx was for Charles Ovono Oluwole who is 50 years old. He struck a pole on October 6, 2025, at Southern Boulevard and Mosholu Parkway.
Ghost Bikes are planning to memorialize 12-year-old Jacob Freytes, an innocent neighborhood youngster, who was killed this year during a gang-related street shootout while riding his bicycle to a candy store on Elliot Place and Walton Avenue on July 24.
Besides erecting memorials, Daloia is always looking for ways to improve roads so that the motorist and cyclist can co-exist.
A few weeks ago, a retired Westchester teacher in his late 50s was seriously injured when a woman driving a Honda struck him as he tried to bike across City Island Road, just feet from the City Island Bridge. The spot is marked with a crosswalk but lacks an operating signal light.
The first ghost bikes were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003. On Wednesday May 25, 2027, the 25th anniversary of ghost bikes will be recognized worldwide.
